


The Sun-Girl and the Dragon-Prince

by MissWoodhouse



Category: Merlin (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 16:24:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17328431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissWoodhouse/pseuds/MissWoodhouse
Summary: An Arthurian FairytaleOr, in which Gwen has an adventure, Arthur is a dragon, and (in the spirit of a folk-tale) no one gets a name.





	The Sun-Girl and the Dragon-Prince

**Author's Note:**

> This is a retelling of a traditional Armenian story, with considerable liberties taken (and elements of a couple other mythologies mixed in). Much love and credit to Katrin Tchana, whose "The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women" introduced me to the tale.

Once upon a time, there lived a Blacksmith’s daughter. She had a smile that could light up a room, and as she tended the hearth and the great forge fire that kept their lives going, her father look to calling her his own little Sun-Girl.  They lived in a kingdom called Camelot, in the sprawling lower town that spread down the hill from the great citadel of the capital city. And although it was just the two of them – her brother had left long ago, to seek his own fortune – and they had little money to spare, they were comfortable.  And what’s more, they were happy.

 

Now the Prince of this kingdom was known to be a good lad, if a bit spoiled, and eager to do whatever his father asked.  And so, on his sixteenth birthday, he had a glorious send off to lead his first raiding party and what seemed like half the city turned out with great fanfare to wish him well.  No one ever saw him return.

 

Whispers abounded – some said that he had been killed, and the King was loathe to announce it until he had secured himself another heir; others thought the handsome young man must have become horribly disfigured, and snuck back under the cover of night to hide shamefully in his rooms away from the public eye; still others believed the raid had been a trick or a trap, and spoke warily of the King’s new ward (the beautiful daughter of a former knight, who looked a little too much more like the king than she did her purported father) – but no one knew quite what had happened.

 

One day, the Blacksmith looked at his Sun-Girl and he saw that her face and her dress were covered in soot.  Now, this was all well and good for a man like the Blacksmith, who had loved and lost, and raised two wonderful children to adulthood, but the Blacksmith remembered enough about his courting days to know that this was not an ideal circumstance for a marriageable young woman like his daughter.  He could see her warm eyes shining out past the smoke of the furnace, but was the back of a forge really the place for a bright girl to find her future?  He thought not, and so he sent her to seek work up at the citadel, for perhaps the King’s new ward was in need of a maid.

 

And so Sun-Girl presented herself at the Citadel, but although she had washed her face until it gleamed and brushed her hair until it fairly shone, the King was a foolish man, who could not see past the simple wool of her clothes, and the soot-stains that would not come out no matter how they were washed.  In one glance, the King dismissed her, saying “She does not look as though anyone will miss her,” as he gestured for a guard to bind her hands.

 

“I have a father in the village who will miss me,” said Sun-Girl, standing firm and unmoving before the spiteful King, “A father who will miss me just as you must miss your son.”

 

“Ah,” said the King, “then if you care for the Prince so, it is only fitting that you should go to meet him.”  And to the guards, he said, “Take her away.”

 

And so Sun-Girl was led away from the throne room, down a staircase, past the dungeons, and down a stairway steeper and narrower still.  And as they went, she called out, hoping to reach the ears of someone who would help her – “You cannot do this!” and “I only came to seek a job here!” and “My father will never forge any of your men a weapon again!”  But no one answered her, and the guards kept marching her along.

 

And then, when she thought, surely, they could not go down any further, they stopped.  One guard took out his key to unlock a great metal gate and then, when it had just barely creaked open, the other guard pushed her through.

 

And Sun-Girl stumbled, and she tried to catch her footing, but found there was no more ground beneath her, and she tumbled forward and fell off of a great cliff into the abyss below.

 

And Sun-Girl’s heart cried out for her father, who would be all alone in the world, and for herself, who would never live the life he’d dreamed for her, and she braced herself for the deadly impact down below.

 

The impact, when it came, was sooner than she’d expected, and softer too.  It didn’t feel like jagged rocks at all, it felt like leather, stretched thin to dry on the tanner’s rack.  And she didn’t feel like she was dead.  And, as the blood stopped pounding in her ears, she realized it wasn’t just the rushing of her body through the air – she heard another noise, like a great swooping wind.  And then, she realized that she was still moving. Not downward, no – not any longer – but forwards, or maybe it was backwards, and also up and down, like the rocking of a boat on the sea in a puppet theater she’d seen once or what she imagined it might feel like to be a feather, riding on the wing of a bird.

 

Because that’s where she was, riding on a wing – not of a bird, it seemed, but of a great big Dragon. A red one, like on the shields of the knights, or that flew on a flag above the castle, to announce that the king was at home.

 

No sooner had she realized this, than the creature she was riding slowed down and gently dipped her off the wing and onto the dirt floor below, as he came in for a landing on a wide expanse of cliff ledge, far out of sight of the gate where she had been so unceremoniously forced in the cavern.  And as she lay there on the ground, rather stunned and overcome by it all, the Dragon came to peer at her, and gently, ever so gently, poked at her with his claw.  She shrieked at the shock of it, although it did not hurt, and the claw was swiftly pulled away.  Then, as she caught her breath, she tried to steel herself to roll over and face her – captor? rescuer? – but her body would have none of it after being frightened and thrown from a cliff and tossed about on a Dragon’s wing.  So following this last great shock of the claw, her eyes closed and darkness took her.

 

And although she could not see it, in her exhausted slumber, the dragon reached out again, and using what must have been very delicate self-control, used not the claw but the scaly pad of one finger, to turn her over onto her back.  And then, when she did not make another noise, he retreated little distance, and kept watch.

 

\----

 

Some time later – neither knew how much, for they had no clocks nor hourglasses in the cavern, and no way to see the sun – Sun-Girl stirred, and opened her eyes, and said, “What?”

 

“So you are alive then,” said the Dragon, his voice almost breathless in wonder.  “That is a relief.  I had hoped…or perhaps I had not hoped…that is to say, I am so glad that I managed to catch you, this time.”

 

“This time?” asked Sun-Girl, who was very confused by the events of the last half-a-day or so, and really did not know where to begin.

 

“There have been ever so many others,” said the Dragon, “but you are the first one whom I have been able to save.”

 

“But who…?  Why…?” asked Sun-Girl, and hoped that the Dragon could find a proper question in there somewhere and give her a proper answer to explain what on earth was going on.

 

“My father sends them – at least I assume it is my father – he sends so many girls, and I do not know why. I think he believes that I will eat them, but he does not listen.  And the guards, they just throw them off the cliff to me, but they always do it when I am far away and cannot reach them in time.  Perhaps they think it is kinder, to fall to one’s death than the be eaten alive, but I wish they would not kill the girls at all.”

 

“You…you will not eat me, then?”

 

“No.  On my honor as – ” but here, the Dragon cut himself off.

 

With that great worry out of the way, Sun-Girl began to collect her thoughts, in hopes that she could think her way to safety.“And, and if your father sends us, then – are you the Prince, then?  Who disappeared so many months ago?”

 

“I am.  Or, I was.  I am not so princely anymore.”

 

“And have you been down here this whole time?  Have they been throwing girls to feed you for months?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“It is not you who should be sorry for it.”

 

Sun-Girl and the Dragon-Prince sat quietly, each lost in their own morbid thoughts.

 

“But,” said Sun-Girl suddenly, “if you have been down here for months, and you do not eat the girls – you did not eat the other girls, do you? – then have you had anything at all to eat?”

 

“I am too large to leave these caverns,” said the Dragon-Prince, “but there are other entrances and exits.  And sometimes a sheep, or another animal wanders its way in.  I have not starved.”

 

“And,” said the Dragon-Prince, after a little reflection, “you will be able to get free.  You will have to go somewhere far away from here, but I will bring you to an exit, and then you will be free,” and he began to walk along the length of the ledge.

 

He walked slowly, for a dragon, but he was not used to human company in this form, and Sun-Girl, had to walk very quickly in order to keep up.

 

“Thank you, for freeing me” said Sun-Girl, as they walked arm-by-wing along the cavern.  “But aren’t you lonely here? Surely, if you set me free you will be trapped here by your lonesome again. Before I go, there must be something that I can do for you?”

 

“I do not think that any man or woman can do much to help me now,” said the Dragon-Prince, and Sun-Girl’s heart wept for him, “I am punished for my own folly.  I led a raid against a Druid camp, and slaughtered many innocents. I did it only because they had magic, and my father deemed that that was right.”

 

“But why was it that you were cursed, and not the King, or any of his other knights?” asked Sun-Girl. “You only acted under orders, and you did not go alone.”

 

“I did wrong, nonetheless,” said Dragon-Prince, “and must be punished for it. And…”  But here he trailed off, and turned his head away from her.

 

“And?” asked Sun-Girl, not unkindly.

 

“And I was born of magic,” admitted Dragon-Prince, “so it was doubly wrong that I should turn against the very blood that runs through my veins.  And so I, and I alone, am cursed for this.”

 

“Oh,” thought Sun-Girl, “that is so very sad, and I am sorry for it.” And so she told him, and she asked, “But is there nothing that anyone can do?”

 

“I do not know,” said Dragon-Prince,  “but I do not think so. Not if my father will not admit the wrongs that brought me here and ask for help.  For what can I do from a cave to make amends?”  And they had nearly reached the exit to the cave by then, and he gestured to it, as if signify all the world in which he could no longer take part.

 

“Is there anything that I can do?” asked Sun-Girl, who was a very practical, no use crying over spilt butter-churns sort of girl.  “You saved my life, after all, and I think that is worth repaying.”

 

“No, I can not ask that of you,” said Dragon-Prince, who had very firm ideas about chivalry, and the roles of maidens, dragons, and knights in an adventure. “Not when it is my fault that you were brought here to begin with.  But…if you should come across the Druids in your travels, you might tell them I am sorry and ask if there is anything I might do to earn forgiveness.”

 

“I will find them,” promised Sun-Girl. “I will find them, and then I will come back with them to free you.”

 

And Sun-Girl stepped out into dusky evening, and was on her way.

 

\----

 

Sun-Girl skirted far around the city, into the forest, and she travelled for many, many miles, always under the cover of darkness. By day she slept – in well-hidden clearings, and empty cave-lets, and once the cozy little hollow of a tree. At night, she wandered far and wide, with no real destination other than “far from the city” and hoped that somewhere along the way, she would stumble upon the Druids.

 

And the sun warmed her sleeping, while the moon watched over her travels and the stars told her which way she was going, and where she had been.

 

And one night, making her way through the woods far from any villages, she saw a monster.  It had the head of a head of an eagle and the body of a lion, with a horn sticking out of its forehead like a grotesque sort of unicorn. Remembering the gentleness of Dragon-Prince, despite his fearsome form, Sun-Girl gave the beast a wide berth, but did not run from it.  The creature seemed to be sleeping, but as she quietly circled the clearing, she heard a branch snap in the forest beyond.  At the sound, the great beast stirred and, eyes landing on her, began to charge.

 

Sun-Girl knew she had no way to fight him, and that this was not a friendly beast.  And, just as in her free-fall from the cliff-side, she her life once again flash before her eyes.

 

But in that instant, just as her eyes were shut and she braced her self for the sharp horn’s impact, an arrow-bolt wizzed through the trees beyond her, and pierced the fearsome creature straight through its neck.  As she caught her breath, and her heart rate dropped back towards normal levels, a Hunter emerged from the forest.

 

“Sorry, to give you such a fright, miss.”  Sun-Girl said nothing, still breathing hard. “Nasty thing, that.  Griffin.  Male. Lucky thing too – the males have horns, but the females, they can fly.”

 

“Thank you.”  Said Sun-Girl, straightening up to look him in the eye.

 

“Are you alright now, my lady?”

 

“Yes.  Thank you.  I think I would have been his supper, if you hadn’t come along.”

 

“Ah,” said the Hunter, “Although if I hadn’t come blundering along, I don’t think you would have woken him at all.”

 

“Well, thank you anyway, surely you must think me foolish to have been sneaking past so near to such a creature at all.” said Sun-Girl, kindly.

 

“More brave than foolish,” said the Hunter. “But what is a lady such as you doing alone in the woods on night like tonight?”

 

“I am travelling,” said Sun-Girl, who had no clearer answer to give.

 

“May I escort you somewhere?” asked the Hunter.  “Only, you’ve taken quite a fright tonight, and perhaps with our two foolish heads together we can get you where you going in safety.”

 

“Oh, no,” said the Sun-Girl. “I’m just passing through.”

 

“Passing through,” asked the Hunter, “to where?”

 

“Anywhere, and no-where,” she replied.

 

“Well then I must insist you rest within my cave tonight.  After I’ve given you such a fright, it is neither right nor safe to leave you to your journeying alone.”

 

“Well, all right,” said the Sun-Girl.  “But only for one night.  And then tomorrow night, I must be on my way.”

 

“Then come, and tell me how you came to be travelling to no-where through these woods.”

 

\----

 

And Sun-Girl went with the Hunter.  And she told him her story, and he told her how he had come to be living on his own in this cave in the woods.  He told her of a maiden, as pale and glowing as the moon, and a unicorn, with a horn twice the length of the one on the griffin.  Of a moment that looked like a charge, and how in that moment, the unicorn held as much strength and power of any beast.  He told her how, thinking to save the woman, he aimed his bow and fired and then how, just in that second between the release and the target, she started to laugh.  And how there was nothing he could do the call the arrow back.

 

He told her of the Unicorn-Keeper’s curse – that for killing a creature of such purity and light, he would never see the sun again.  That he had been banished, to this dark stretch of woodland, where the moonlight scarcely penetrated, and retreated each day to his cave, for to see the sun would surely be to die.

 

“And even after all this,” wondered Sun-Girl, “Even after all this, you took another such shot, and saved my life?”

 

“I would do it again, a thousand times, with no hesitation,” said the Hunter.  “I am sorry to have killed an innocent creature in my error, but I could not live with myself if I had seen a man or woman in danger, and did not do what was in my power to help.”

 

“Was it not wrong, then,” asked the Sun-Girl, “to have punished you so dearly when she must have known that you were only trying to help?”

 

“Perhaps,” replied the Hunter, “but I will take that punishment gladly if it means that by my actions I have also saved you.”

 

And Sun-Girl felt sorry for the kind Hunter, who had done even less wrong than the Dragon-Prince, and yet he too was cursed with loneliness, to live out his days in a darkened cave.  And so, forgetting her promise for a while, she stayed with him, and began to fall in love.

 

\----

 

But the young woman was a Sun-Girl, and it was no more in her nature to live in the darkness than it was to forsake a solemn vow.  And so nights passed into weeks and into months for the Sun-Girl and her Hunter, but eventually there came a time when she said that she had to go.  And she set off once again, now on a double quest, to break the curse on the Hunter as well as Dragon-Prince.

 

Eventually, she found a camp of Druids.  And the Druids were a peaceful sort, who did not take curses lightly.  They knew of no Druids who would lay any curse so beastly as on the Dragon-Prince, and had heard very little about the Unicorn-Keeper and her spells.

 

“Perhaps,” said the Druid Elders, “you may find answers on the shores of Avalon, which holds the cure for many ills.  But the journey to get there will be long and rough.”

 

“I do not care how hard the journey,” said Sun-Girl, “for I am privileged in being able to take a journey at all, when they cannot.  But how shall I get there?”

 

“You must travel onwards until the sun is on this shoulder and the moon is on that one and you have come to the land that is East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  There you will find the Lake of Avalon.”

 

“Thank you,” said Sun-Girl, “but before I go:  Even though your people did not curse him, and even if the Lake of Avalon should not hold the cure, Dragon-Prince knows he has harmed you and sent me above-all that he might ask you how to earn some measure of forgiveness for his wrongs.”

 

“When he is King,” said the Druid Elders, “let him learn from his father’s mistakes and make better choices.  Let him forgive himself, so he does not take his vengeance out on others, and then he will truly be relieved from his guilt.”

 

“Do you think he will be King, then?” asked Sun-Girl.

 

“Oh, yes,” said the Druids, “for we are counting on many years of his wise and just rule of the land.”

 

\----

 

Sun-Girl continued on her journey, until she came to the lake at the place that is East of the Sun and West of the Moon. As she bent down at the water’s edge, a face appeared to her.

 

“My Lady of the Lake of Avalon,” said Sun-Girl, “may I beg a drink of your clear waters?  I have traveled very far, and I am weary.”

 

“You may,” said the Lady of the Lake, “for I can see that you are pure of heart.  It shall not harm you.”

 

And so, gratefully, thirstily, Sun-Girl drank, and felt renewed from her long journey.

 

“I am sure you have not come here just to drink,” said the Lady.

 

“No,” said Sun-Girl, “You are right that I have not.  The Druids sent me here, my Lady, when I asked them where one might go to break a curse.”

 

“And are you cursed?” asked the Lady, and then, before Sun-Girl could reply, she continued, “No, I can see that you are not.  Who do you seek to break a curse for?”

 

“For the Dragon-Prince, my Lady, and for the Hunter who may never again feel the light of the sun.”

 

And the Lady of the Lake told her to gather a flask of lake water at sunrise the next morning. “Then, you must put on iron shoes, and walk to the End of the Earth and back again, and you will find the Sorcerer who can break your spells.”

 

And the Lady of the Lake pointed Sun-Girl to a forge, where she worked all that night to make herself a pair of iron shoes.  And when the sun rose, she filled a flask with water and set off on her way in the iron shoes. 

 

And Sun-Girl walked for many miles, although it was harder than before with the heavy weight upon her feet.  But eventually she came to a great mountain range, high as the tallest turret on a castle, and each peak as smooth as unbroken glass.  And then she was glad to have the sharp-bottomed iron shoes to help her climb. And she climbed over the mountain range, back down the other side of it, and she kept on walking until she thought that she could walk no more.

 

Eventually, she came upon a ramshackle cottage, with slanting walls and a patchy thatch roof that was sagging in the center.  And in the doorway of the cottage, leaned on Old Man with a gnarled walking stick.

 

And the Old Man asked Sun-Girl if she would sweep his hearth for him.

 

And although Sun-Girl was anxious to continue on her journey, she said, “Yes, Grandfather, I would be glad to lend you a hand.”

 

And she swept his hearth, and all the rest of his cottage, with its crumb- and cobweb-covered floor of packed dirt. And the Old Man said, “Well, child, whose house is the cleaner, mine or your father’s?”

 

And Sun-Girl smiled, thinking of the house that she grew up in, and they way that her father kept everything just-so. But she said, “Oh surely it is yours, Grandfather, for my father is a blacksmith, and you know that a blacksmith is always tracking soot with him wherever he goes,” and the Old Man smiled at her for her kindness.

 

“If your father is a smith,” said the Old Man, “then you must know something about armor.  Could I trouble you to help with cleaning mine?”

 

And Sun-Girl said, “Of course, Grandfather,” thinking that a man who lived in this sort of dwelling could hardly have more than a leather tunic with a few metal plates.  And besides, he must be lonely, and probably wanted the company more than anything.  But, as if from out of no-where – for Sun-Girl had swept the whole of the small cottage, remember – the Old Man pulled out most of a suit of armor.  It was dented, and a little rusty, and didn’t look to have been terribly well-crafted to begin with, but Sun-Girl set to work polishing it until it was nearly shining like new.  The old Man talked with her while she worked.

 

“Whose armor is finer, child – ” he asked her, “mine or you brother’s?”

 

And Sun-Girl smiled, remembering the way her brother used to proudly clean and polish his hauberk each night – to keep any rust from creeping in amongst the links –  and she replied, “I suppose it must be yours, Grandfather, for my brother can afford only chain mail, and this must have cost ever so much dearer.”

 

And the Old Man smiled back at her, and he said, “I wonder if you could do me one more favor? I’ve an old sword lying around here somewhere, and I’d love to have it polished back into fighting shape.”

 

And Sun-Girl looked at the armor around her, and at the Old Man’s happy grin, and she said, “I suppose I might as well, since I am here.”

 

And the Old Man produced a wooden sword, of the sort one might have given to a child, or to a particularly clumsy young squire. But Sun-Girl took it politely, without comment, and set about looking for something better suited to polishing wood.  And as she was cleaning it, she looked away for a moment, and when she looked back, the sword was gone, and in its place was a handsome wooden staff.

 

And just at that moment, the Old Man – who had been pottering around in one of those mysterious corners where things seemed to just appear – cried out, “Aha!” and turned around to reveal the most beautiful sword that Sun-Girl had ever laid eyes on.

 

“Trade you,” he said, wiggling the sword in one hand and gesturing for his staff with the other. “We’d better be on our way if we want to reach your Hunter by nightfall.”  And with that, he walked towards the door.

 

Sun-Girl didn’t believe she could ever make it back to the forest cave so quickly, especially not if the Old Man moved so poorly that he could not sweep the cottage.  But she followed him anyway, and outside, there were two fine brown horses waiting for them – dependable farm animals, but well-groomed and well-saddled.  Sun-Girl left behind her iron shoes – she did not think she would need them again, and it wouldn’t be kind to the horses – and she set back off, with the Old Man for company.

 

\----

 

As they rode back from the End of the Earth - for that must be where she’d got to, since she seemed to have the answer to her quest – the Old Man seemed to grow lighter, rather than heavier with the journey, like he was invigorated with the sense of adventure and reliving the glory days of his youth.  Why, by the time they reached the Hunter – and it was just as the sun sank below the horizon, as the Old Man had predicted – he hardly seemed older than middle aged at all.  In fact, she felt rather bad for having called him Grandfather, and resolved from here on out to think of him as the Sorcerer – for that could be the only explanation for the wonders he had performed.

 

And so Sun-Girl introduced the Hunter tp the Sorcerer, and she took out the water she had been granted by the Lady of the Lake.  And the Sorcerer spoke some words over the water of Avalon, and the Hunter drank it. And at first, it didn’t seem like anything much had happened.  But the next morning, the sun broke through the forest canopy, and shone gently down on the entrance to the Hunter’s cave, in this part of the forest that had hardly seen daylight for many years.

 

And the Hunter gathered his courage, and he stepped out into the sunlight, and he was not stuck down for it, and he laughed in joyful wonderment and enjoyed the comfort of the sun’s embrace.

 

But after a day and a night had passed, the grateful Hunter looked towards the Sorcerer and told Sun-Girl, “Your quest is not yet finished.  You must go back with him to save the Dragon-Prince.”

 

And Sun-Girl, who had long ago fallen in love with him, said, “But surely the great Sorcerer can cure the prince without my help – I am only a blacksmith’s daughter, after all, and would far rather while away a few more days here with with you.”

 

But the Hunter said, “You must see your quest through,” and she knew that he was right.

 

“Then you must come with us,” said Sun-Girl, “for I could not bear to part from you again.”

 

But the Hunter said, “The Dragon-Prince is your quest.  I must find my own to prove that I am worthy of this curse being lifted.”  And Sun-Girl was saddened by this, but she knew that she could not convince him and that he was right – she could not abandon her own quest to follow him in seeking his.”

 

\----

 

Sun-Girl and the Sorcerer rode off again, and this time she was sure that he really was getting younger with each passing mile.  As they approached the entrance to the Dragon-Prince’s cave, they tied the horses a long way off, and came the final stretch by foot.  The Dragon answered her call of, “Hello! Dragon-Prince?” and told Sun-Girl that he was surprised to see her returned, and with help none the less.

 

“Did you think that I would forget you?” asked Sun-Girl.

 

“I feared there was no hope that your promise could be kept,” said the Dragon-Prince.

 

“Did you think so little of me?” she asked.

 

“No,” he replied, “I thought so little of myself.  I still doubt there is any hope for my redemption.”

 

“There is always hope when one is willing to make amends,” said the Sorcerer. “Now might I suggest we set to work on this un-cursing business?”

 

Sun-Girl and Dragon-Prince both assented, and the Sorcerer told Sun-Girl to take out her sword.  She drew out the blade with a steady hand, but eyed it warily. “I’m not about to stab him with this, if that’s what you were going to suggest.”

 

“Stab him? Oh goodness, no!” cried the Sorcerer.  “You’re going to de-scale him with it.”

 

So the Sorcerer spoke some words over the sword, and Sun-Girl cautiously approached the Dragon-Prince with it.  Gently, she pushed the edge of the sword-blade under a row of scales, and scraped upwards.  And the sword clearly had powerful magic, because they came right off, smoothly as you please.  And as the scales came off, the body shifted beneath them, and soon the human Prince was revealed beneath the dragon skin.

 

The Sorcerer charmed him a coat of plate armor made from the dragon scales, and handed him the sword, which was called Excalibur.  And the no-longer Dragon-Prince went up through the castle to the throne-room, where he issued a challenge, to free the people from the unwise leadership of his father. His coronation followed shortly after, and he was named King, and kept a Dragon as his standard.

 

He married the Sun-Girl, and made her his Queen.  But although she was a good ruler, and women throughout the land were envious of her position, Sun-Girl grew to be unhappy.  She was pleased to be a force for good in the lives of her people, but while she had been gifted all the riches that a kingdom might have to offer, she found what she really longed for was her simple time in the cave with the Hunter.

 

Seeing his Sun-Girl’s unhappiness, and knowing it was a poor way to repay her for all she had done to rescue him, the new King put out a call for all the finest would-be knights in the land, to undertake a great quest for the glory of the kingdom. Still searching for a way to prove himself, and as fine a warrior as ever, the Hunter arrived in due course at the castle, and made his application. Presently, the King announced that this newly dubbed Knight would be joined in his quest by the Queen, and the two set out to have marvelous adventures together.

 

While the two lovers rescued people throughout the land on their travels, the Dragon-King ruled his kingdom fairly and well, with the wise Sorcerer beside him.  And under their guidance, Camelot prospered.


End file.
